Dance Recital

This year we have had a lot of fun watching the girls enjoy their dance class.  This week, they performed in their first dance recital.  It was a really informal dance recital for just the little ones and it was so great to watch! The pictures are not great since we couldn't use the flash but at least it is something to show.  We were able to video tape it and have watched it many times since! Emma was supposed to wear long sleeved pajamas and Maddie had to wear a Christmas dress.  The last two pictures are what I got when they decided to "pose" for the camera.  Funny girls!

Emma - Emma performed first and was so shy!  This was her first big performance at a place like this and she spent most of the dance looking around and trying to find where we were sitting.  As you can see in the picture, she gets a little nervous in front of crowds.  She got braver towards the end and did a few moves but this picture pretty much captures the essence of her performance.  I loved it all the same!

Maddie - Maddie is definitely going to be our performer.  She got up there just fine and did as many of the moves as she could remember.  My two favorite parts were when they tapped their little feet with the jingle bells on them and when they jumped up and shouted "Hey!" during Jingle Bells. Loved watching her and can't wait to see what she can do in the future.

Emma's Kindergarten Christmas Program

This is our first child in school so I was pretty excited to go to our first school performance.  All of the Kindergarten  classes at Emma's school sang three different Christmas songs for us.  Jacob and I helped with the program by making the 90 jingle bell bracelets that they are all wearing.  Yes, 90!!!  But it was so worth it to see them shaking their bells during the song Jingle Bells.  So cute!!  Emma doesn't love being in front of a crowd but we got to see her singing here and there. She looked so adorable in her red dress and reindeer hat and I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Christmas Lights

As a family we love to go and look at Christmas lights.  Here are a couple of the destinations we visited:

Bainbridge Falls - This is a really cool community in Temecula where the entire street participates with lights that flash along to some music on a radio station.  It was our first time there and we totally loved it!







Mission Inn - We go here every year and enjoy all of the lights that are there.  However, I really go for the yummy cupcakes you can find there and this year the girls and Jacob found some delicious homemade donuts that I think they will get again next year!  We usually love going with MB and Nathan but unfortunately they were sick this year.  :(  But both grandmas stepped in and enjoyed the time there with us.

Chino - We like to go and look at the Chino lights every year with Spencer and Amber's little family.  The girls love to play with their boys, Gavin, Grant and Parker.

Gingerbread Houses

It's not Christmas unless you make a gingerbread house!  I am a little lazy though and instead of each of the girls getting a house to decorate, I only let them each decorate one side.  I love to see the difference though! (Look closely and you'll see what I mean!)

Jacob's 30th Birthday

This year Jacob was turning the big 30 so I wanted to do something special for him.  I decided to throw him a surprise party and the biggest surprise was that it was an entire month before his actual birthday.  Since his birthday is so close to Christmas, I wanted to make sure there was a clear separation AND I knew I couldn't lie easily to him so the farther away it was from his birthday the less suspicious he would be!  We had a wonderful time with a lot of family and friends but of course I didn't get a single picture.  When Jacob's actual birthday came around, we kept it simple and had his favorite dinner with the girls and Grandma Jones.  Emma's card was the best because she drew him a "computer" and a picture of him with a grumpy face.  Totally hilarious!

Bock 4th Annual Christmas Party

This week we had our 4th annual Bock Christmas Extravaganza!  Due to the normal crazy Christmas season, our turnout was a little smaller than usual but we had so much fun together.  We did an Ugly Sweater competition and Courtney won but I don't think it can qualify as ugly because she was so darn cute!!  (The rest of our guests weren't bad looking either although we missed a few for pictures.)  We played games, won prizes, ate great food and laughed a lot as usual.  We really do love our friends! (By the way, who is jealous that I am married to Buddy the Elf??)

It's Christmas time!!

The day after Thanksgiving starts the official Christmas season for the Bock household.   As I am sure most people know, it is our favorite time of year so we are pretty excited! Merry Christmas!